Scene 1 — The Night Kat Found It
Jakarta, 2015.
There is something about that guy at the bar that bothers Kat. And It’s not just that he has been watching her all night (between sipping his drinks and chatting with the bartender). Despite the fact that she has been sitting with her back to him, she can tell that he has been watching her every move. She can feel his eyes following her. It’s as if he has been observing her all along. Kat has never seen him before, no matter how hard she tries to remember every face that she has ever seen. His gaze is actually kind and friendly, Kat thinks; no, it’s magnetic. There is something about him that feels familiar, and Kat cannot figure out what it is.
Normally, Kat would have been offended or at least feel uncomfortable when a stranger stare at her the whole night. She has been in that kind of situation before; usually she would walk up to the person and politely ask if they had any problems with her. She would then tell them that it is impolite and inappropriate to stare at anyone, regardless of the reason. But not tonight, she isn’t. She is actually enjoying it, living moment-by-moment, sending casual flirtatious codes to be deciphered and responded. Not that she’s interested in committing to any man. Kat’s top priority is to make a good career for her independent self, dating men is not even on her list.
Maybe I’m imagining it. Kat shrugs off the thought, He obviously did not respond to any of my courtesy laugh, hair flips or casual smiles directed at him. I should stop watching too many Korean romantic dramas. I’ve invested too much time and it has profited me nothing but false fantasy that one day I will meet a tall dark handsome man at a bar. Hah! The irony. All men are manipulative creatures anyways.
Climbing up the career ladder quite easily at the age of 29, Kat is manager at a multi-national company in flashy high-rise office building in Senayan. Her job provides her with a stream of income that allows her to buy the latest fashion, go to salon for her routine hair and skin treatment, and hang out with her best friends at fancy restaurants. Her idea of vacation is a weekend away to Singapore to check out the latest Tory Burch collection, not that it is unavailable in the shopping mall near her office in Jakarta. When she walks into a room, it automatically fills with sunshine and butterflies appearing out of her presence. The moment she starts with her smart wit and cheeky grin, everyone she talks to would instantly want to befriend her. Kat is a typical big city girl, and she leads, what she thought was, a happy life.
Kat and her friends, Damar and Nina, meet up for drinks after work every Wednesday, to catch up on life and gossip, and the latest fashion trends. They would meet at a bar called The Bar. It is located in quieter corner of Kemang, a residential turned commercial/entertainment district in Jakarta. The trio have been sparing some time off their busy schedule to see each other regularly, a habit and promise they keep since they started working. Life was different ten years ago when Kat and Nina first met. They were almost inseparable then, when they would spend time at Kat’s family’s pavilion. Later on Damar joined the scene when he started dating Nina five years ago.
People often wonder what Kat and Nina have in common. From the looks, Nina sits on the other spectrum from Kat’s. Unlike Kat whose appearance resembles those models you see in lifestyle magazines; colorful according to the latest trends, matching shoes and handbags, prepped hair; Nina dresses in black and black only. Her hair has always been short, edgy, asymmetrical style. Naturally, with one look at Nina, people will guess she works in creative field. She is in fact, an artist. Her works appeared in art books and exhibitions, acclaimed to be the emerging talent in the New Art Movement.
That was 5 years ago. Before she takes on full-time job as Curator and Assistant for Program Director for Art Gallery in Pejaten. Ever since then, her creative stance seems to be in hiatus. She had told Kat and Damar it’s because the demanding nature of the job, that she has to put her creative self aside. It is only a temporary artist block and that one day she will be able to express herself in art again. Kat knows there are more distractions at work that prevented Nina from being creative artist, but she also knows how stubborn Nina could be when criticized. Damar, being the supportive partner to Nina, believes everything Nina says.
Damar works at an oil & gas company in the southern part of Jakarta. He was brought up in Surabaya, where he also finished his degree in Accounting. Damar came to Jakarta determined to make a good living and successful career. With a set of sharp small eyes that pierce through combined with the friendliest smile, he radiates calmness and confidence. Kat and Nina know how much stress he has at work despite the fun and giggles. Sometimes he has that tune out look on his face, but when addressed he will laugh it off and distract the topic with a joke. It works most of the time.
These mid-week drinks with Nina and Damar usually stretch out until the bar closes. When everyone is free from early morning meetings or other commitments the following day, they would move to another bar nearby that stays opens until the wee hours of the morning. This is not one of those nights. Kat has an 8 am conference call with her client in Sydney. I should be getting home and try to get some sleep, she thinks as she rummages through her bag she looks for her car keys.
Instead of her car keys, she finds a rather peculiar book. It is the size of paperback with plain dusty white cover. “Urup” is written on the cover in pearly white glossy print. When she flips Inside, she finds what seems to be the title of the book: “Book 1; A journey to discover Purpose”. Kat keeps flipping through and she notices that some pages are empty, while others are filled with texts and sometimes scribbles and drawings. She cannot really see them clearly under the dim lights of parking lot. Besides, it’s been a long day and after a few drinks with Nina and Damar, Kat is not really in the mood for reading.
Kat is certain the book belongs to someone else. Firstly, there is no way Kat would pick up a book with peculiar title like “Urup”, what the f- does it mean?. Secondly, Kat has little interests in self-help books, she thinks it is written only for the pathetic low self-esteem people who don’t know how to be successful. Kat is not one of them. She is highly successful and she has reached a high point in her career. And besides, she has not picked up any book to read for pleasure for a long time now.
It must be somebody’s book from work, maybe my assistant accidentally misplaced it in my bag after lunch today, she thinks. Maybe somebody confused her bag with his or her own. Which is hardly true, because Kat always carries bags that are particularly unique and she changes them regularly to match to her outfit. For Kat, a bag is not just a carry-all to put all her daily necessities; it is a statement. And nobody can wear a bag like Kat wears hers. Whether it’s Chanel, Prada, or the casual Kate Spade, there is no way anybody would confuse her statement bag with his or her own.
Kat searches though her bag again, still clutching the book whilst carrying the bag on her arm. Ah, ha! She finds her keys and unlocks the car. With her hands full by all the stuff she carries, she ends up shoving the book onto the backseat and decides to just leave it there until somebody claims to be missing a book. She is far too tired to think about it now. Sleep, she starts her engine, I will get to sleep soon.
This is an excerpt from the Novel. As we go through the final editing, I will share work in progress (even though my editor would probably kill me :)) and the tiny jumps of joy and despair (!) that I experience along the process with you.
Let me know what you think, recommend it, or simply green-heart it. I would be humbled to receive valuable feedback from you.
